[Porsche-O-Phile]

"The Millionaire Next Door" is good reading. The advice is a bit 80s and I personally think they push their frugality message a bit too far (what's the point of dying with $5M in the bank that you never got to enjoy the virtues of having earned anyway?), but the principles are still applicable today and it does get the point across. It left an impression on me. I do believe people should enjoy life reasonably while they can, but I also believe that needs to be tempered with some basic appreciation for frugality, financial conservatism, wisdom and common sense. The "overnight millionaires" who made big bucks in the dot-com bubble or the recent housing bubble are perfect examples of those at risk of becoming (or who did become) rags-to-riches-to-rags stories. A lot of them manage their newfound assets about as well as a 20-year-old pro athlete with a multi-million dollar contract - in other words, they "invest" in bling-bling, H2s, night clubbing, $800 pairs of shoes and $2,000 outfits, vacations to Europe and similar "no return" nonsense.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to "luck into" a few million bucks, but even if I did, I'd still believe savings, careful attention to where one's money goes, hedging onesself against recessions and knowing where the fine line is between sensible living and idiotic ostentatiousness is - and staying on the proper side of it. I've seen it firsthand - a single recession or economic downturn can wipe out the entire life savings of even the most self-assured, cocky, know-it-all braggart. All I can say is "be careful - better people than you have lost everything".

Personally I can't wait to see some of the unscrupulous "flippers" get their asses handed to them in the coming months. It'll be a bit of payback and honestly I'll probably revel in it and enjoy a little self-satisfied "I-told-you-so" smugness a little. Sorry if that sounds twisted or harsh, but I think these people have done more to screw up the economy than anyone else in recent months/years and it'll be kind of nice to see them get burned by the fires they've stoked at everyone else's expense. It'll reassure my confidence in the power of the free market. Don't get me wrong - not all people that capitalized on the recent RE bubble fit this description (there are some that honestly earned their keep and deserve it and who should keep it), but I'm specifically talking about those that did nothing to truly earn their money - they just kind of "happened" into it and then rode the gravy train by flipping crap properties gussied up with shoddy workmanship, illegal labor and questionable code-compliance. There are many out there and I can't wait to see them get smoked - a few already have. I doubt there will be much sympathy out there for them.